


Only You in Here

by deliciousshame



Series: Trope Bingo Round Four [4]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 05:37:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3839089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliciousshame/pseuds/deliciousshame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tetsuya never really minded not being suited to telepathic links. He didn't think he was missing something. </p><p>Now he mourns its loss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only You in Here

The first time he feels it, like a murmur at the back of his head, he ignores it. 

He does the same when it comes back, then again, and again, almost like words but not quite, unintelligible.

Then it’s feelings he can’t be feeling, blooming out of nowhere within him and disappearing as swiftly as they came. This is when he gets his first clue. He ignores it once more. This isn’t the kind of thing that would happen to him, let alone with _him_.

When he starts hearing words no one has said, he knows he has to acknowledge the situation. The telepathic link is growing almost too fast between them. Tetsuya never had the knack for those. The only link he ever was a part of was with Ogiwara-kun, a low-level empathic link that they both mostly ignored, nothing like _this_. Tetsuya doesn’t know if he can deal with sharing his head with Aomine-kun. He is used to it: he spent most of his life with Momoi-san as his other half. Tetsuya has no such experience. 

So it’s with some trepidation that he goes to face Aomine-kun, wondering how he’ll react to another intruder in his head. 

Being laughed at wasn’t within his expectations. “Seriously, Tetsu, you just found out? Wow, you’re dense. I could tell this was happening weeks ago.”

Tetsuya isn’t pouting. He isn’t. “Unlike you, I’m not used to this.”

Aomine-kun pats his head. “Don’t worry about it. These things work themselves out. Bonds don’t form where they’re unwanted, everyone knows that.”

How can he say that with that careless smile, when just thinking about it makes Tetsuya blush? “Surely that’s wrong. Like I would want that with Aomine-kun.”

Great, Aomine-kun is just laughing harder. “You’re going to have to get used to this. I can tell you’re lying to me now.”

He’s not going to say it, but Tetsuya can think of worse things. 

(Daiki knows anyway.)

_________________________

He can’t quite convince himself he isn’t disappointed when Kagami-kun doesn’t fill that particular hole. When he reflects on how much he dreaded the link, he wishes he could warn himself that learning how to accommodate it wouldn’t be nearly as painful as learning how to live without it. 

He still wakes up some mornings wondering why he’s so lonely, then he remembers that first conversation with Aomine-kun, _bonds don’t form where they’re unwanted_. It has been the last thing he’d needed at the time, feeling physically the breach between them deepen as Aomine-kun left where he could never follow. How he’d gone from conversations lasting all night to occasional exchanges to a few words to nothing, the link between them as dead as their love for the sport that had united them. 

Now he couldn’t even tell that Aomine-kun met Kagami-kun by any other way that where Momoi-san was, Aomine-kun wasn’t far. He used to be able to find him in a crowd in a matter of seconds. 

That’s how it is. It won’t stop him from doing anything he can to defeat him. It just makes it a little bit harder. 

_________________________

Tetsuya sits on the bench, exhausted beyond his last reserves, the match against Rakuzan having demanded all he had, maybe even more than he could handle. He could swear at some point near the end of the game he wasn’t alone in his head, the sensation so unexpected it almost made him miss. That wasn’t the kind of distraction he could afford during a match, especially not that one. 

It must have been exhaustion that messed up his senses. What else could it have been?

_________________________

“He misses you, you know. I can tell.”

He would normally doubt such a claim, but if someone can say, it’s Momoi-san. She would not lie to him. “What do you want me to do about it?” It is an honest question. 

“Talk to him! It’s depressing to watch you both pine like long lost lovers.”

“Momoi-san!” He does not pine, and neither does Aomine-kun. 

He doesn’t manage to escape Momoi-san’s glomp. He should be used to this. There are too many tactile persons in his life. “Tetsu-kun is so cute when he’s embarrassed! It’s obvious that anyone separated from you would pine!”

“Momoi-san, please let me go.”

She does, reluctantly. “Talk to him, please.”

He can’t say no to Momoi-san when she looks at him like this. “All right, I will.” He did fulfill the last promise he made to her after all. He can do it again.

“Excellent. Wait here a minute.” And she dashes away. 

Tetsuya waits. What else is he going to do?

She comes back. With Aomine-kun. Did she stash him somewhere? “Here, Dai-chan. Talk. I’ll see you after. Don’t be mean to Tetsu-kun!”

“Wait, Satsuki!” But she’s already gone. “Damn it. Always messing in other people’s business.”

Tetsuya has to say something. “So you weren’t waiting for her to come pick you up. That’s a relief.”

“No… I wasn’t.”

Tetsuya doesn’t need telepathy to read that one. Aomine-kun was never a great actor. “How often did she bother you about this that you agreed to it instead of ignoring her?”

Aomine-kun scratches the back of his head and evades his eyes. “Way too much.”

“Do we really need Momoi-san to act as our facilitator?” Sad is what this is. “We didn’t use to.”

“Well, we’re not the same. Things change.”

Tetsuya doesn’t have to be told. Even with Aomine-kun right in front of him, he’s still alone in his thoughts. “Do you miss it?” He hopes he doesn’t have to specify what.

“Not really. I already have Satsuki, that’s more than enough.”

He’s the one who asked. If that’s not what he wanted to hear, he’s the only one to blame. “I see. I suppose Momoi-san would be sufficient for anyone.”

He didn’t expect Aomine-kun’s hand ruffling his hair gently. “Idiot. Like you and Satsuki are anything alike. One of you couldn’t possibly replace the other.”

It might be his mind playing tricks with him, less literally than he’d like, but he could swear he felt Aomine-kun reaching, like during the match. It is possible for broken telepathic links to reform. How they appear and disappear isn’t understood, but that much is known. It won’t happen overnight. It might never happen. 

If Tetsuya’s recent reconciliation with Aomine-kun taught him anything, it’s that you won’t gain anything if you don’t even try. “Is that so. That’s reassuring. I don’t know how I would feel being equated to Momoi-san.” It would be both flattering and strangely disheartening. 

“That won’t happen. You’re one of a kind, Tetsu.”

“I’m not sure how I should take this.”

He’s pretty sure he’s being laughed at. “Don’t waste your time overthinking it.”

That’s good advice. “You’re right.”

Silence stretches. It never did when they first met. That’s something they’re going to have to work through. 

“So, you free? We could hang out somewhere.”

At least he isn’t alone on that road. “Yes.”


End file.
